Fertilizer-distributer.



T. E. HUDSON.

FERTILIZER DISTBIBUTER.

APPILIOATION FILED NOV. 11, 1011.

Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

WITNESSES dMlNVENl'oR @660 I a 9 7 4 THOMAS E. HUDSON, OF NORFOLK,VIBflINIA.

FERTILIZER-DISTRIBUTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1912..

application flied November 17, 1911. Serial No. 660,829.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. Henson, of Norfolk, in the county ofNorfolk and in the State of Virginia, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in F ertilizer-Distributers, and do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a fertilizer distributer ofsuch construction that will be' capable of wide range of adjustment asto the quantity of fertilizer distributed and capable of adjustment tosow broadcast, or in drills at various distances apart, and forside-dressing, and which, witha-l will be simple and eflicient, andadapted to machines ranging from a wheelbarrow or hand type, to a twohorse-driven type.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a top plan view of enou h ofa'machine to illustrate my invention, t e machine being adjusted. forbroadcast sowing; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of thedistributing devices; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 33 ofFig. 1; Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line 44 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 isa detail View of the slide reciprocatmg means.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the-drawings, a hopper 10, ofusual form is employed, which is mounted upon a suitable wheel-supportedframe (not shown), and which has a slotted or grid-form bottom composedof parallel side bars 11, and obliquely extended cross bars 12, at thetops of I the side bars, and separated by spaces 13,

' lower cross bars.

and obliquely extended cross bars 14, beneath the side bars, andsituated opposite the spaces between the upper cross bars 12. The topsof the latter are inclined from a central point downward toward thespaces 13 upon the opposite sides of each cross bar 12, so as to causethe easy pzlissage of fertilizer into such spaces, from w from themachine by a horizontally reciprocating discharge or feed slide 15, thatlies between the side bars 11 and the; upper and Said slideh'as a seriesof cross bars, 16,-correspond1ng in number with the number of the seriesof upper or lower oblique cross bars, and said cross bars 16 areat rlghtangles to the direction of movement of the slide 15, the result beingthat the edges of the cross bars 12 and 14 and the slide bars 16 are atan angle, and hence, a

ch it is discharged great and accurate graduation of the discharge orfeeding space between the edges of the upper cross bars 12 and the edgesof the slide cross bars, is possible, and the graduation of such spacefrom nothing to the full capacity of the machine is accomplished simplyby changin the stroke or throw of the slide, as e-reinafter described.For reciprocating the slide 15, it may have attached to it a bar 16located conveniently beyond the hop-per 10, and parallel with the slide,and connected by a lateral extension 17, with each end thereof, to whichbar, at or near mid-length is connected a pitnia-n 17, which is alsoconnected to the wrist pin 18 of a crank disk 19 on a shaft 20 I whichis suitably geared to carrying wheels of the machine. ably connected tothe disk 19, and thus the The wrist pin 18, is adjustthrow of the slidemay be adjusted.

For each space 13, I provide a closing slide 22, so that any number ofsaid spaces, and at any distance apart, may be closed to prevent thehopper contents passing out except at the desired points, and at suchpoints drills or spouts will be provided. It will thus be seen that themachine can be adjusted to drill where the rows are widely varyingdistances apart, and to side dress. For each slide a horizontal supportis provided that may have the form of a lug or projection 23 from one ofthe side bars 11, and a bolt and slot arrangement may be used to retainthe slide either in closing or opening position. The advantage of theadjustability of my machine in the particulars just mentioned, overmachines that have a fixed capacity as to the spacing between rows, willbe apparent.

To agitate the hopper'contentsso as to facilitate the feed of fertilizertherefrom, I

use an agitator in the form of a piece of chain 24 that is stretchedbetween two standards 25, at the ends of the feed slide 15 and whichplays baLK and forth above the top cross bars 12.

To avoid breakage of the cross bars 16 of the slide 15, when there issome unusual obstruction, as in the case of hard phosphate rock, saidbars may be spring supported, so as to yield under an abnormal pressure.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is I 1. In adistributing or sowing machine, the combination of a hopper, a gridhaving obliquely arranged bars separated by spaces,-

a traveling feed device moving beneath said bars and having cross barswith edges that form an angle with the edges of the grid bars, and meansto cause the travel of said feed device.

2. In a distributing or sowing machine, the combination of a hopper, agrid having obliquely arranged bars separated by spaces,

' a traveling feed device moving beneath said bars and having cross barswith edges that' form an angle with the edges of the grid bars, andmeans to change the stroke of said feed device.

3. In a distributing or sowing machine, the combination of a hopper, agrid having obliquely arranged bars separated by; spaces, separate meansfor opening or closing said spaces, a traveling feed device movingbeneath said bars and having cross bars with edges that form an anglewith the edges of the grid bars, and means to cause the travel of saidfeed device.

4. In adistributing or sowing machine, the combination of a hopper, agrid having obliquely arranged bars separated by spaces, separate meansfor opening or closing said spaces, a traveling feed device movingbeneath said bars and having cross bars with edges that form an anglewith the edges of the grid bars, and means to change the stroke of saidfeed device.

5. In a distributing or sowing machine, the combination of a hopper, agrid having obliquely arranged bars separated by spaces, separate meansfor opening or closing said spaces, a traveling feed device movingbeneath said bars and having cross bars with edges that form an anglewith the edges of the grid bars, means to change the stroke of said feeddevice, and an agitator carried by said slide.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

7 THOMAS E. HUDSON.

